"I'm afraid I didn't notice the time, sir. It was before Sir Arthur came in, I know."

"Would you agree that it was half past eleven?"

"Somewhere about there, sir, I should say."

"Did it strike you that Mr. Billington-Smith was at all upset when he went out?"

"I did not notice anything unusual, sir."

"You did not consider it unusual for him to go without his hat on a hot day?"

"Oh dear me, no, sir! Mr. Billington-Smith very rarely wore a hat in the country."

"Did he appear to be in a hurry?"

"It did not strike me in that way, sir."

"He did not, in your opinion, rush out of the house as though he were quite beside himself?"